1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for retaining or holding a front brake tube in place on a body of an automotive vehicle, particularly a front-wheel-drive vehicle having an engine at the front (hereinlater will be referred to simply as an F-F vehicle).
2. Description of the Prior Art
In F-F vehicles, as exemplarily shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a hood ledge 10 is formed with a relatively large arch portion 12 for installation of a drive shaft 14. On the outside surface of the hood ledge 10 there is mounted a bracket 16 for supporting an end of a brake tube 18 equipped with a connector 20, as better shown in FIG. 3. The end of the brake tube 18 is connected by the connector 20 to an end of a brake hose 22. The other end of the brake hose 22 is connected to a wheel cylinder (not shown). The brake tube 18 extends, through an aperture 24 formed in the hood ledge 10 and fitted with a grommet 26, into an engine compartment 28 for connection with a master cylinder (not shown).
In such prior art structure, the aperture 24 is formed at the place where the inside surface of the hood ledge 10 is not covered by any vehicle body structural member such as a side member 30 or a hood ledge reinforcing member (not shown) so that the aperture 24 is open directly into the engine compartment 28 to enable the brake hose 20 to be installed in an easy and simple manner. For this reason, the location of the aperture 24 is very limited, and actually the aperture 24 has been formed at such a place that is spaced from the arch portion 12 and rearward of the bracket 16 which is also located adjacent the arch portion 12, as shown in FIG. 2.
The foregoing construction and arrangement, however, encounters a drawback in that it is possible for the brake tube 18 to be touched or engaged by a front wheel 32 in a maximumly steered state, as illustrated in dash-and-dot line in FIG. 4, and to be broken thereby in the worst case. This is particularly true when the vehicle is of the type having a transversely mounted engine since, in such type of vehicle, the distance between the hood ledge and the front wheel tends to be made small due to the need of a wide engine compartment. Furthermore, when the wheel 32 is equipped with a tire chain, there will inevitably be a large possibility that the brake tube 18 will be touched or struck by the tire chain.
In FIGS. 3 and 4, indicated by the reference numeral 34 is a front suspension, by 36 a front fender and by 38 a fender protector.